Guidelines issued for issue of passport to minor children

The External Affairs Ministry has issued guidelines for issue of passport to minor children born to Indian or foreign genetic parents through surrogacy in India.

As there is no specific provision for such children, the Ministry has decided to apply the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines that genetic parents are the real biological parents of the surrogate child.

Genetic parents, while applying for a minor child, have to submit the surrogacy agreement duly registered under the Registration Act, bonafide certificate issued by the head of the fertility clinic where the surrogacy was carried out; birth certificate issued by the competent authority in the name of the genetic parents of the surrogate child and DNA profiling test establishing the parentage of the surrogate child issued by the government or government-recognised laboratory.

However, as there is no government recognised laboratory in India to do DNA profiling test and government institutions do it only on the order of courts, the Ministry has decided to accept an affidavit sworn duly by the genetic parent before an Executive Magistrate or I class Judicial Magistrate affirming that the surrogate child was born through surrogacy in pursuance of the registered surrogacy agreement executed between the genetic parents and the surrogate mother, S.Lingasamy, Regional Passport Officer, Tiruchi, said in a press release.